Tag Archives: Alien

At the start of August BEACON had a stand at Dig the City in Manchester. Dig the City in Manchester is an annual gardening festival where visitors can view show gardens, attend talks and workshops and children can make mud pies and plant seeds. The event was really well attended and everyone enjoyed themselves.

BEACON had a stand at the event to spread the word to budding and experienced gardeners alike about the dangers of invasive non-native species, many of which started out as garden ornamental plants. We had displays of garden plants that are known to be invasive, such as Crocosmia spp., Buddleja and Snowberry.

BEACON also had examples of the better-known Himalayan balsam and Japanese knotweed at the stand to make more people aware of BEACON’s main work. Even though the weather was poor, the city bees were still able to find the nectar in the Himlayan balsam on display.

Children made alien masks and played alien invader games to illustrate the point about invasive species being like aliens that are in the wrong place.

It is hoped that BEACON will be able to attend this event next year to carry on spreading the word…not invasives 🙂